A computing device, such as a tablet, phone, or laptop, provides an opportunity to have one's data stolen. Leaving a phone unattended for even a few seconds gives a thief an opportunity to steal the data stored on the phone. In order to prevent such data loss, people often set passwords or passcodes on their devices; some organizations even require the use of password or passcodes as a condition to allowing the organization's computing systems to be accessed through the device.
Normally, the device has a short timeout such as one minute, after which the password or passcode has to be entered anew. However, data can be stolen and transmitted very quickly, so, in the world of data theft, a minute is effectively an eternity. And imposing a timeout of less than a minute may impose a significant inconvenience for the legitimate user of the device.